2009 State Convention

October 14, 2009

In a state-of-the-state address to the 66th NC NAACP convention at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, President William Barber declared: "Our work is not done. We will celebrate, but we will not stagnate." He listed a long string of racially motivated threats, intimidation and violence that occurred across North Carolina in the last year. "I could call every county in the state — I won't, but I could," he said. "There is still work to be done.

"Some want our 100th anniversary to be a going-out-of-business event, and the truth is — we would if we could," Barber said. "In order for us to stop now, we'd have to be blind, deaf and in need of de-fibrillation." See coverage in the Hickory Record.

Earlier in the conference, Governor Beverly Perdue exhorted the delegates to prepare children for the future. "In our new world, it is unacceptable that three of 10 freshmen don't graduate" from high school she said Friday. Full coverage.

The conference also addressed the achievement gap between black and white students.Statewide, blacks scored 53.2 percent on end-of-course exams for the 2008-09 school year. That same year, white students scored 81 percent. More.